Description:

Material Creative is an award-winning interior design studio based in Auckland. Working across Aotearoa New Zealand, it has a reputation for crafting bold, contemporary spaces that go beyond convention. Material Creative collaborates with clients across residential, hospitality and commercial projects to enrich the way we live, play and work.

As a business built on making spaces more inspiring, its own little corner of the Internet needed to do the same.

Material Creative approached us to create a website to showcase its award-winning portfolio of work. The objective was to celebrate its projects and create a pathway to connect with clients. Beyond function, there was also the importance of imparting a feeling. To capture what it’s like to experience a Material Creative space — even if you’ve never set foot in one.

The website’s target audience is naturally a discerning crowd, made up of prospective and existing clients, collaborators and industry peers. If they are not already design savvy, they have a desire to be. This presented us with an opportunity, a chance to push the boundaries of website design from the expected to the unexpected.

This idea of unexpected design is a key concept in Material Creative’s work. It formed the foundation of what we wanted to translate across to the site. On the homepage, one of its mission statements takes up prime real estate, taking precedence over the header. An unconventional touch, this is your first introduction to the unexpected. It’s one of many high-impact typography moments across the site that give pause for thought.

Material Creative is renowned for its signature use of colour. As you scroll, vibrant colours shift as you reach different points of the page. Changing colour combinations decorate new ‘rooms’ of information throughout the navigation journey. Adding to the dynamic landscape are light touch, scroll-driven transitions and animations achieved using CSS and JS.

With interior design a visual medium, photography is maximised at every opportunity. In the ‘Projects’ section, gallery walls of imagery wait to be discovered, alongside key project facts, awards and insights into the inspiration behind the design. User journey is front of mind, with sticky elements keeping the menu in your viewport as you explore everything from homes to hotels.

A rule of thirds approach is taken to organising information. Horizontal and vertical lines map across the pages, creating structure and guiding the eye as it consumes copy. Creativity flows in-between a solid framework — much like Material Creative’s process.

To futureproof, the door was left open for phase two of the website. Shopify is ready for Material Creative to introduce an e-commerce aspect to its business down the line.

This website is a window into the world of Material Creative. It pulls us out of the status quo and into a reality that’s bolder, brighter and braver. It was a pleasure to bring it to life.